Shipbucket

Modified from Novice's original drawing. This is as close to how she looked as I think I can get; records on the IJN AMCs are fragmentary at best. (Yes, she was camouflaged earlier in her career, but she was rerated a transport in October 1943, so I imagine at that time she was repainted in standard IJN gray. If anyone else wants to draw up the camouflage version, have at it.)

Aikoku Maru served as an armed merchant cruiser for much of the initial part of the Pacific War, operating almost always with her sister ship Hokoku Maru. On 11 November 1942, Hokoku Maru engaged Royal Dutch Shell tanker Ondina SW of the Cocos Islands. When Aikoku Maru was still six miles to the NW, the tanker scored a direct hit on Hokoku Maru's starboard torpedo mount, which had just been loaded. The ensuing explosion started a large fire, which then set off nearby ammunition and sent Hokoku Maru to the bottom.

In February 1944, Aikoku Maru was anchored at Truk when the U.S. Pacific Fleet launched a massive air raid on the base that lasted for two days straight. During the first strike wave, four bomb hits quickly set her afire, but in the second strike wave a TBM "Avenger" hit the ship with a torpedo in her No. 1 Cargo Hold, which was filled with ammunition. The resulting explosion vaporized the entire front portion of the ship from in front of the smokestack forward, and sinking her with 946 passengers and crew, including CO Captain Nakamaruo Yoshizo, who was posthumously promoted RADM.

Today, the remnants of Aikoku Maru sit upright in 210 feet of water, a popular diving spot at Truk.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Excellent stuff.

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USN components, camouflage colors, & reference links (World War II only)

The third ship of the Aikoku Maru-class was Gokoku Maru. Still in the final stages of outfitting when war was declared, she underwent conversion to an armed merchant cruiser while still being completed, and ended up looking markedly different from her sister ships. Commissioned on 25 September 1942, she primarily served as a transport, and was not known to have been sent out on commerce raiding cruises like Aikoku Maru and Hokoku Maru. On 19 December 1942, she narrowly escaped being torpedoed by submarine U.S.S. Albacore; one of the torpedoes meant for her instead struck light cruiser Tenryu in the stern, mortally wounding her. Rerated a transport on 1 October 1943, she served in this role for the remainder of her life.

On 10 November 1944, she was inbound for Sasebo when she was intercepted by the submarine U.S.S. Barb, which hit her with two torpedoes, one striking aft of her funnel and the second forward of the bridge. The port engine room was destroyed, the ship flooded, all power was lost, and she took on a 30-degree list to port. Despite this damage, the crew attempts to beach their ship. However, Barb fired another torpedo, mortally wounding the ship. The last surviving ship of her class, Gokoku Maru sank stern-first with 326 passengers and crew dead, including her CO, Captain Mizuno Kokichi, who had been in command since the ship was commissioned. Mizuno was posthumously promoted RADM.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

These are very well done. Good job.

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Thank you Kim for the crest

"Never fear to try on something new. Remember that the Titanic was built by professionals, and the Ark by an amateur"

Glad you like them...hope I did the original drawing justice!

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

Nice work.

Wonderful. I really appreciate seeing the less famous
ships being done - and so well.

Awesome work. The Aikokou Maru looks like she's just jumped off the page of Jentchura et al! I've always thought she was one nice looking cargoliner.

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Hood's Worklist
English Electric Canberra FD
Interwar RN Capital Ships
Super-Darings
Never-Were British Aircraft

Same here...she and her sisters are probably my favorite IJN AMCs.

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MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

#FJB

And very nice too Emperor. Couple of litle nit picks though. You have some pixel trash just above the funnel. Also there seems to be a lot of double black lines around the area of the life boats.